Two locals receive Red Cross awards

May 2015

North Central resident Justin Coghill recently received the International Humanitarian Service Award from the American Red Cross Grand Canyon Chapter.

He was one of nine volunteers presented with awards on March 28 during the Breakfast of Champions. The breakfast event honored the Grand Canyon Chapter’s 1,350 adult and youth volunteers who are trained to use their Red Cross skills to help save lives.

Coghill has empowered relationships with refugee partner organizations as the Volunteer Partner to Vicente Baamonde. He spearheaded the 2014 World Refugee Day for the city of Phoenix, a Human Rights Film and Speaker Series with Amnesty International at Glendale Community College, and provided water, snacks, CPR/disaster preparation and American Red Cross International Services information at the Iraqi American Society’s four-day soccer tournament. He also worked with the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU to cohost International Humanitarian Law workshops.

Also at the Breakfast of Champions, Red Cross employee Ashley Fairchild and Red Cross volunteer Leah McCormack received the Partnership Award from the American Red Cross Grand Canyon Chapter.

The two have worked tirelessly to ensure that new and existing Disaster Action Team (DAT) volunteers have a clear training path for advancement.

Fairchild, who lives in North Central Phoenix, has extensive experience with Disaster Action Team, client casework and helping everyone navigate the online learning system. She and McCormack assist with the monthly open house events, ongoing new volunteer orientations, and the Arizona Disaster Leadership Training schedule. They have helped train hundreds of volunteers.

McCormack has helped Fairchild achieve instructor certification by allowing her to co-teach a class about client casework and providing emergency assistance class to more than 100 people.